Airplane construction



May 6, 1930. c. 5. THOMPSON 1,757,603

. AIRPLANE CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 26, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Wm r a z Z, W m N o M. z n 7 1m M a 0 Z Y m 0& z AAY $7M xx 1 a q/ w y 1930. 5. G. THOMPSON 1,757,603

AIRPLANE CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 26, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lN VENTOR Car/ .G. m m

. nation of parts-herein shown and described,

Patented May 6,1930

PATENT FFI-(3E.

- cm a. THOMPSON, or snnonrs, mssounr CONSTRUCTION Application med August as, 1927. serial 110. 215,574.

M invention relates to improvements in airp ane construction, and has among its main objects, to provide such a construction which shall be simple, convenient, sturdy,

quick-acting, reliable, render the control of the plane easier and safer, and to safeguard the occupants of the plane and persons in the vicinity of the plane.

The invention has among its other objects,

' a construction of the kind described, in which a new wing will automatically move into operative position rapidly and. efiectively, to

supplant a ruptured or broken wing, and thus maintain the equilibrium of the machine.

Another object of my invention isto provide a wing which will normally remain in inoperative position, but in the case of stopage of the motor, or for other causes, may" e extremely rapidly actuated into operative 2 position to supplement the lifting capacity of the other wings, and thus keep the machine in equilibrium and prevent a nose-dive or other -such disaster.

Another object of m invention is to provide a construction 0 the kind described,-

which will serve as a wind-break or baflie to retard the descent and forward movement of the machine whenever desired.

Manyother objects and advantages of the be obvious to those skilled in the art to which "this invention appertains, from the disclosures herein given To this end, my invention consists inthe novel construction, arrangement and combiand the uses mentioned, and more particularly jEpinted out in the claims. s the drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate like or corresponding parts throughoutthe views, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a plane, showing my improvement thereon in inoperative, normal position; p Figure 2 is a top plan view'of the auxiliary wing, showing the manner of control thereof; Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of one corner of the auxiliary wing;

Figure 4 is a side elevation, illustrating the various positions of adjustm ent thereof;

construction herein shown and described will Figure'5 is a side elevation of the constructiOfil as used with a difierent type of airplane; an

Figure 6 is a detail showing the means for controlling the movement of the auxiliary 65,

wing shown in Fig. 5.

It is Well known that airplanes have not the desired safety or ease of control sufficient to render them popular'for more general use, this being due, among other causes, to their relatively delicate construction and balance, their employment of fragile material, etc., and in order to partially overcome these de- M fects, I have provided a construction which will meet the need of safety and ease ofcon- 5 trol, and which withal, will be eflicient and practicaL- Y In the drawings, A indicates an airplane of any preferred or desired construction, the

same not forming a part of my invention, and

'which in Figs. 1-4 inclusive isshown as a monoplane type, the same having the usual fuselage 1,0ne or more wings or planes 2," landing gear 3, propeller 4 and other equipment needless to enumerate.

The wing or plane 2, extending to each side of the fuselage, is of course, stationary or fixed in place, and there is shown superimposed thereon, one or more movable wings or planes 5, of improved construction, and adapted to co-operate with or in lieu of the wings 2, in a mannerto be more clearly here-vv inafter. described.

The main or bodyportion of the wing 5 I may be of any desired material such as canvas '8 therealong, these rods being either solid or hollow, as desired, and the .end edges of the wing have strips 9 thereat, to serve as clips or clamps, these 'st 'ps preferably being of channel cross-section.

A series. of means 10 interconnect the ad-' jacent rear edges of the rigid and movable wings, each of these means preferably 'comprising a light wire or rod ,11, pivotally connected at one end to the rear edge of the movable wing 5, said wire extending loosely through suitable apertures provided in the fixed wing, or through brackets thereon if de- L sired, said wire having an enlargement 12 at its lower end tov serve as a stop member to limit the separation of the twowings, in a manner to be more clearly hereinafter de-- scribed. When the two wings are in the inv i operative position shown in full lines, the

wires of eachof the elements will fall loosely through the apertures in the lower wing; and on separation of the wings the enlargement ,will abut against the under side of the stationaryplane to act as a stop.

The interconnections at the forward edges of the edges of the co-operating wings are somewhat different. At suitable distances m apart along the forward edge of the wing 2 are arranged brackets 13, these brackets preferably being in the shape of loops or keyways, with a restricted opening at the rear leading into an enlarged opening at the forward end 5 of theloop. Elements 14, preferably of light wires or rods, similar to the rear connecting elements 10, are preferably liingedly connected at their upperends to the bar 7 of the wing 5. These elements extend forwardly thereof and are thence hingedly interconnected to a cooperating section which extends downwardly, said latter sections having enlargements 1'5 at the lower ends. The elements 14 are much longer than the rear connecting elements 10, and intermediate the ends of each of the elements 14 is positioned a stop member 17 preferably of smaller diameter than the stop 15 and having the opposite ends tapered so as to be-more readily o insertible through the enlarged openings of the brackets 13, -In order to secure a better anchorage of the members 17 at the point-desired, I prefer to form the element 14 out of two pieces of wire at said point, the adjacent 5 ends being interlooped, and'then I cast the 'member 17 about the interlooped ends. The size of the stops 15 and 17 is such that when the elements 14 are in .the position wherein the wing 5 is indicated as a, the intermediate' stops 17 will be at the reduced portions of the slots through the bracket 13, to limit -further separation of the eo-operating wings, but, upon movement of the elements 14 outwardly or--.forwardly'in the slot, the stops 17 will register with and may 0 upwardly through the enlarged ends of the oops, whereupon the enlargements 15 will then abut the under surface of the brackets to limit further separation. v v a In order to manually move the stops; 17 to go through the brackets, I have provided a slide member 19, suitably mounted along a rail 16 along the top side of'the forwardedge of the wing 2, said slide having a series of, 5 cams 20, .therealong, one cam adjacent each element 14. At one end, preferably the inner ends of the slide, there is arranged operating means 21, which may be a bell-crank arm as shown, and a spring 22 may be arranged at the opposite end of the slide in order to retrieve the latter after operation thereof. It is obvious thatmovement of the slide will cause the cams thereon to engage with the elements 14 to move them outwardly and permit the intermediate stops 17 to register with the enlarged openings at the forward ends of the brackets 13.

In operation, the auxiliaryv wing or plane serves a wide numberof uses or functions, which will now be set out:

Firstly, in the event of a rupture or break in the covering of either of the two wings constituting the plane of the airplane, the rush of air through said break will instantaneously and automatically lift the movable wing from its first or normal position until the latter is in the position indicated in dottedlines in Fig. 4, this position being marked a. In this position the stops 12 engage the under surface'of the fixed wing. The stops 17, however, are in the inner or reduced portions of the brackets. In this position of separation between the two wings the auxiliary win functions exactly as the stationary wing di to thereby permit uninterrupted passage of the machine to its destination.

Secondly, in order to avoid any of the serious consequences .that so often follow as a result pf stoppage of the motor while in midair, the auxiliary wings 5, 5 are simultaneously actuated into their next or second position, indicated as a in Fi ure 4, the position just described in the preceding paragraph, wherein they will act in the dual capacity of holding up theforward end of the machine and to a de ree retarding the speed or velocity or speed of the plane in its descent or landing, as the movable wings have more curvature to them than the stationary plane. In order to manually give an initial lift to the wings 5, 5, any-suitable meansmay be provided, and in the embodiment shown I provide a lever 23 suitably connected to the wing 2 at various points 24, said lever having a lever arm 25 intermediate its ends, and having another arm 26 at one end, so that u on oscillation of the lever, the arm 25 will ift or tilt the wing 5 to such an extent to ermit the air to rush thereunder to complete t e full tilting separation between the wings. The controls for the arm 26, as well as those for the arm 21 of the slide, may lead to the operatorby any suitable devices, as by cables, sheaves, etc.

Thirdly, in landing the airplane, not only in forced landings, but at air-ports as well, it is desirable that such landings take place with the least amount ofrunning of the machine on the field, or of taxiingas it is termed.

In order to accomplish this, the pilot, in de- 150;

scending, first places the movable wing in the position shown as a, if not already in such position, and then shoves the slide 7 to release the stops 17', to thereby actuate the wing to the position shown as b, this being the full separation between the wings.

From the foregoing description, it is obvious that I have provided an equipment that serves either as a relief wing or as an auxiliary wing, and in which the safety of the occupants of the machine and also of the landing fields will be greatly enhanced, and

in which said equipment may be actuated and controlled to make landings simple, convenient, and within a short distance.

In Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings, I have shown the auxiliary wing as applied to a different type of airplane, and in which the auxiliary wings are preferably mounted to the top plane 28. I have also shown means whereby the auxiliary wings may be moved from their operative to their inoperative position, while the machine is in flight.

For this purpose I have provided a shaft 29, suitably journalled at 30, to'the lower plane 2, and at suitable points'along the shaft 29 are spools 31, to which one end of cables 32 may be attached. The other ends of the cables 32 are connected to the forward 1 edges of the auxiliary wing, and if desired these cables may pass over pulleys 33, fixed to the forward edge of the stationary plane 28. A hand wheel 33 may be placed adjacent the operator, one end of the cable 34 being connected to the hand .wheel and-the other end of the cable 34 being wound with several turns about the shaft 29 or about a spool thereon.

When the auxiliary wing is thus mounted on an airplane of-this type, the cable 32 -can be released upon leaving the ground, to thereby permit the auxiliary wing to move into its second position, to thereby provide additional lifting surface for themachine, and thus render a better start for the airplane. After the proper height has been reached, the auxiliary wing can be retrieved to its first or inoperative position so as to not slow down the flying speed of the machine.

Having thus described my invention, it is obvious that various immaterial modifications may be made in the same without departing from the spirit of my invention; hence I do not wish to be understood as limitv ing myself to the exact construction, arrange- What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is T 1. The combination with an airplane having a stationary wing thereon, of an auxilia wing movable vertically thereof and norma lysuperimposed thereon, and means for controlling the movement of the latter, said means comprising elements interconnecting the front and rear edges of the two wings but permitting a predetermined amount of separation therebetween, means for initially tilting the forward edge of the auxiliary wing to permit wind to enter thereunder to lift the auxiliary wing, means at said elements for limiting the separation between the two Wings after a predetermined separation therebetween, and means for actuating said last-mentioned means to increase the amount of separation at the forward edges of the wings.

2. The combination with an airplane having a stationary wing, of an auxiliary wing movable relative thereto and normally superimposed thereon, and means for controlling the movement of the latter, said means comprising element interconnecting only the. front and rear edges respectively of the two wings but permitting a predetermined amount of' separation between said front and rear edges of both wings.

3. The combination with an air lane having a stationary wing, of an auxi iary wing normally superimposed thereon and .bodily j movable-vertically thereof, means at the front and rear edges of said wings for interconnecting them thereat and permit separation therebetween at both edges, and means operable in advance of the. operation of said lastmentioned means for initially tilting the forward edge of the auxiliary wing to permit air to enter thereunder and lift the same.

4. In airplane construction, the combination with astationary wing, of a secondary wing supported thereon and movable vertically thereto, connecting elements along the front and rear edges of said planes for connecting them and permit of a predetermined amount of vertical separation therebetween, means for tilting the forward edge of the auxiliary wing to permit wind to enter thereunder to lift the same a predetermined distance, means cooperable with said elements for limiting said separation after said initial tilt of the auxiliary wing, and means for releasing said last-mentioned means to permit an increased separation of said wings at the forward edges thereof.

' CARL G. THOMPSON. 

